What I see
by Fire Lady Ursa
Summary: Entry for Second Renaissance contest. Kai x Rei. Yaoi Warning. Kai and Tyson get into a fight, after it gets broken up he and Rei have some interesting conversations.
1. The Fight

**[A/N: This piece is being written for The Second Renaissance contest. If you enjoy Kai X Rei, either reading or writing it, you should check out the page, you might even consider entering it.**

**I'm going to try and link to the Second Renaissance page on my main, if your interested in it.  
**

**On a side note, if you do not like Yaoi stories, you can leave now. It's not my fault if you read my story, and don't like the pairings or content, when I have warned you in advanced. More than once.**

**Please Read and Review. I would love hints on how to improve, or any corrections you have.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own beyblade. None of the characters or ideas are mine.]**

Rei lurched forward, his right arm encircling the older teen. "MAX! Get your boyfriend!" He snapped, strain audible in his voice as Kai struggled against his grasp. An elbow to the ribs quite nearly knocked the wind out of Rei, still he hung on, restraining the other without use of claws or temper.

The blonde hesitated for a moment before grabbing at Tyson's arm, "Easy, enough. Stop it!"

"Get him out," Rei hissed through clenched teeth.

"Kon. Let. Me. Go." Kai's voice was icy, cold and calculating. He had not stilled, but instead fought harder against the Tiger's grasp.

"No. You'll kill him."

"Let. Me. Go. I wasn't asking."

Rei gritted his teeth and kept holding on. "Max, now please."

"I'm trying!" The blonde yelped, as Tyson managed to split his lip with a stray elbow.

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Rei would have been concerned for his teammate, but at the moment he was slightly more worried about Kai making good on his threat. "Try harder. Please -" if there was anything more to be side, it was choked off and forgotten as Kai managed to strike a _very _unfair blow.

At that point, Max managed to drag Tyson out of the room and Kenny shut the door behind them, closing Rei and Kai in the room alone together.

Tyson's loud protests could be heard through the closed door, and Rei kept his grasp on Kai for several moments.

"TYSON! Are you suicidal! You want to go back in there? He'll kill you, and Rei'll let him have you. Stop it!" A little more quietly, "Tyson, please. I don't want to see you hurt. Let Rei calm him down a bit. Be sensible about this."

There was a muffled response, though Rei wasn't sure what it was. He'd recovered from Kai's unfair blow, and he released a slow breath. "I'm going to let you go now, please don't go for the door." Rei knew that if Kai wanted to go for the door, he would whether Rei liked it or not, but it seemed best to _try _and convince him not to.

He stepped back from Kai a bit, watching the Russian blader carefully. "Kai?"

"If you were anyone else, I would have killed you." Kai said in a perfectly conversational tone, "for restraining me like that, that is."

"I figured you would anyway."

"Then why?"

"Protecting myself wasn't worth risking you hurting yourself or Tyson."

"You have no sense of self preservation. That, or you lie well." _Probably the latter. _"But I don't see, how attacking Tyson would hurt me."

"I know you care. You hide it well, but you care."

"What makes you think that?"

"Everything I see, when I look at you?"

"Which is...?"

Rei smiled teasingly, "Another time."

"That's cruel."

"I can be, at time."

"And they call _me _mean."

Rei was silent for a moment, his eyes closed and he listened carefully. "I think that Kenny convinced those two to go with him to the movies, or something. They're not out there."

"And you know that without opening the door...?"

"I can hear. The door just shut. And no-one is in the living room unless they're being _literally _silent."

"Ah." Kai sighed softly. "I'm sorry about that one hit... Not so much about knocking your wind out of you. You _were _holding. But that was cruel. And I wasn't aiming."

"I'd have probably done the same. I bet it's instinct for you."

Kai stared at him for a moment, uncertain how to answer that. "Hn."

"Are you hungry?"

"What do you think?"

"That, despite the adrenalin, you need to eat soon. Since you didn't eat dinner last night, or breakfast this morning."

"Right."

"Does that mean you'll eat if I cook?"

"Probably."

Rei rolled his eyes. "Lunch time it is."

"I still want to know what you supposedly see, when you look at me."

"And I said, another time." Rei stood up, "I'm going to go cook you something."


	2. I See

**[A/N: This is going to be a shorter story. I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. I don't own anything. I'm not making a profit off of this story, nor am I attempting to pass the ideas off as my own. I'm just borrowing them.]**

It had been two weeks since the fight, and things were much calmer. Tyson and Kai were back on speaking terms. Everything seemed to have gone back to normal among the blade breakers.

That particular evening, Rei was only cooking for three of them, himself, Kenny, and Kai. Max and Tyson had gone out earlier that evening, and weren't projected to be back until late. It was amazingly (and somewhat depressingly) quiet as the three of them sat together to eat.

A little while later, Kenny went into his own room, claiming that he had something to work on with Dizzy. Rei and Kai sat in the living room in silence for a little bit. Then, Rei got up, "I'm gonna head to our room." He left then, without another word.

However, he barely had time to sit on his bed, before Kai joined him in the room. "You said, that you'd tell me what you saw when you looked at me." He said evenly.

Rei laughed softly. "I thought that you had forgotten."

"Never."

"Close the door, and come here, if you really want to know."

Kai obliged, intrigued by Rei's statements, that from anyone else would have sounded like orders.

"Look at me."

Kai looked up at those golden eyes for a moment, gaze thoughtful.

"First, I'm curious what everyone else sees...or what you think they see."

"That's easy. They see a monster. A person with no emotions, who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself."

"Is that what you think?" Rei said softly, Kai didn't respond.

Rei reached out suddenly, grasping the older boy's wrist and drawing the sleeve up, he didn't look down at the arm, but instead ran gentle fingers across the pale flesh.

"I see...a boy who has far too many scars that he can't explain. A teenager who has too many scars for his age. I see fear, pain, and sometimes hatred. I see a boy who doesn't know how to trust someone else. I see a boy who won't reach out for help, because he's afraid someone's going to hurt him. And then I see that I can't blame him for that, because every time he has reached out, he has been hurt." Rei paused and swallowed, but Kai was silent.

"I see a scared little boy who doesn't know what a family is. What friends are. I see someone I want to protect with my life. But I don't know how. I see someone that I want to make trust me. But, I can't convince that I'm any different than the – probably hundreds – of others who he has trusted. And I realize that I wouldn't trust me, either with that kind of track record.

"I see someone with a past that haunts him. Terrifies him. A boy who barely sleeps at night, for the nightmares that come calling. A boy who cries alone because he's afraid to show weakness even to those who try to befriend him. A boy who hides his emotions with a temper and an insult, but is really dying inside."

Kai was shocked utterly speechless by Rei's calm monologue. His crimson eyes were a hair wider than normal. Then they narrowed. "You think you know me? You think you know what I've been through?" He hissed.

"No. No, I don't Kai. I just know that you aren't what you want everyone to see." Rei said calmly, "You have weaknesses, you aren't perfect. You're like everyone else. The only difference is, you try harder to hide it."

"Why do you?"

"Because, I do. I can't explain something like that. I just...care."


	3. The Trial Period

A month had passed since their little discussion. Kai had opened up a little to the Tiger, showing him a side that he had almost forgotten existed. They talked a lot in the evenings, when everyone had settled down in their own rooms. It was a time that Rei looked forward to. They weren't together, officially. They never did anything. But...there was something there, something palatable that even Tyson was coming to notice.

Rei still smelled blood in the bathroom some mornings, but he never said anything, even though he was sure that Kai knew he knew.

The conversations covered everything from favorites to memories, depending on the night, and how open Kai was feeling. Sometimes Rei did more talking, hoping to coax Kai into saying something, and sometimes he just listened to Kai, letting the older teen rant, or disclose a memory he had finally decided to trust Rei with.

In all, they had known each other for almost four years, but Rei knew that he learned more in the last month than he had in all of that time. And he was thankful.

It was almost sunset, and they were walking side by side, almost touching as they reached the railing that separated the beach from the road. They stood there in silence watching the sunset.

Finally, Rei spoke up. "Please stop."

Kai blinked at the abruptness of the statement. "Stop what?"

"Cutting."

"I was wondering when this would come up..."

"Hear me out."

"Alright."

"Give it two weeks. Try talking to me instead of hurting yourself. Wake me up in the middle of the night, tell me about your nightmares...or...just ask me to sit with you, if that's what you need. But try alternatives to harming yourself. That's all I ask, a trial period."

Kai pressed his lips together slightly in the darkness, staring out across the water. The tiger had never let him down, had never said anything about their discussions to someone else. He had never been turned away by Rei, or taunted and teased. Not once. Not in four years. "I'll try."

"Thank you."

They returned to the home that they shared with the other three blade breakers. Kai made dinner, with Rei supervising (more out of shock that the other boy could cook, than that Kai actually needed supervising). Kai made some elaborate seeming Russian dish.

"Off handed question."

"Yeah?" Kai said cautiously.

"Is it your birthday?"

"Yes. How did you guess."

"Luck, apparently."

"Hn."

"You should have told me before, I'd have gotten you something."

"You already have given me more than I could ever repay."

"What do you mean?"

"You gave me someone to trust."

"I'm glad. But..."

"I've never been one for birthdays, anyway."

"Hm."

Kai said nothing more, but instead motioned for Rei to follow him into the dining room. "Dinner, everyone." He called out.

Max and Tyson appeared a second later, from the living room, hand in hand. Kenny entered a few minutes later.

Dinner was uneventful. "It was really good, Kai." Kenny said.

"Mmmhm." Rei agreed with a small smile.

----------

Kai woke up panting. He sat up slowly, and considered following the normal routine. _Get up, grab the knife out of the drawer, slip into the bathroom. Close the door. _He shook his head. _I told him I'd try. I should...at least try. Right...?_

"Rei?" He called out, a little shakily.

"I'm here." The younger boys response was almost immediate, if a little groggy.

"I..."

Kai could hear Rei moving, but he couldn't tell what exactly the other boy was doing. He felt his bed shift slightly as another weight settled on to the edge of it. "Talk to me, please?"

Kai released a shuddering breath, and Rei arranged himself on the bed carefully, shifting Kai so that his head rested on Rei's shoulder.

"Are you attempting to make me feel like a child?"

"No. I was trying to make you a little more comfortable."

"It's working."

"Good. Now, please...?"

Kai explained the nightmare to Rei, keeping his calm as much as he could manage. Rei rubbed his back gently and coaxed him to continue talking whenever he faltered and fell silent. And, as he was drifting back off to sleep against Rei's shoulder, he had to admit, that the session had made him feel better than any session with a knife ever had.

This repeated almost every night for the two week trial period. Sometimes, Kai would just lay against Rei, shaking with tears escaping from the corners of his eyes. Sometimes, he would cry full on, buried face down into the warm, comforting silk covered shoulder. But other times, he talked about the nightmare until there was nothing more to say. The one thing that never changed was the fact that Rei held him and soothed him until he slept again, or morning came.

---------

"Kai," Rei began slowly. It had been almost four weeks since his proposed trial period had begun. "I've slept with you pretty much every night since...you know."

"I know."

"I don't see why -" He didn't have time to finish his sentence.

"Neither do I."

Rei laid down with Kai for the first time at the beginning of the night. They fell asleep together. Kai didn't awake to a nightmare that night. He awoke with the sun, feeling warm and rested – loved even. He watched Rei sleeping peacefully and wondered why they hadn't thought to do this sooner. Now that they had attempted it, it seemed like the most logical thing in the world.

_I've really let him in. I hadn't ever meant to drop everything. All of the barriers. I'd meant...to keep some shields in case he turned on me. But...once I started to trust him. It was impossible to keep...anything intact against him. I really...I really care about him. And I can't even say that letting him in was a mistake...yet._

Rei smiled a little, as he awoke. "Morning." He breathed at the Russian blader.


	4. The Kiss

**[A/N: So, I'm updating this very quickly. As in, I might finish tonight or tomorrow. Please R&R. I would really like some feedback on this story.]**

Another week passed. Tyson and the others had begun to notice a change in Kai. He lighter, calmer, more patient. Even Mr. Dickinson had noticed something different in the Team Leader. Rei was happy, because Kai was happy. They were more open now. The others were perfectly aware of the fact that they slept together. They were seen together almost constantly.

One evening, Kai and Rei went for a walk together, tracing a familiar path. It lead them to the fence that separated the beach from the road. Rei's hair was down – uncommon for him. It blew a little in the wind, he stared watching the sunset.

He felt Kai leave his side, but didn't panic, and didn't look around for him. Then, Kai was standing right in front of him, on the other side of the railing. His head was tilted slightly to the side. Rei leaned forward slightly, reaching over the railing for Kai's hands.

Kai graped the Tiger's hands tightly as he leaned forward, closing his eyes. Their lips met, and for them at least, time seemed to stop. The kiss lengthened into what felt life forever before they both had to pull away to breathe.

"I..." Rei began slowly,

"Love you." Kai finished in a somewhat ragged voice.

Rei nodded with a warm smile. "Yes, I love you."

"Love you too."

They kissed again, still leaning over the railing to do it. Behind Kai, the sun finished setting.

**[I lied. At the beginning of the chapter, apparently. I believe this is closed. Now. I hope you enjoyed it.]**


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